Chris Cornell Performs at Barack Obama Rally in Des Moines, Iowa

Fans hoping to see Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell perform at the Budweiser Made in America festival in Philadelphia, Pa. over the weekend were disappointed to find out he had cancelled the appearance due to a scheduling conflict. Although not able to make Made in America, Cornell did find himself on stage at a campaign rally for President Barack Obama on Saturday (Sept. 1) in Des Moines, Iowa.

Cornell, armed only with his acoustic guitar, performed a short collection of classics and cover tunes spanning his career. The set included Temple of the Dog’s ‘Hunger Strike’ and ‘Wide Awake’ from his Audioslave tenure, with each song seemingly chosen for a distinct reason.

According to a report from the Times-Delphic, Cornell took some time in between songs to share some of his thoughts, including how his outlook on an overheard social agenda helped inspire the Temple of the Dog song ‘Wooden Jesus.’ The review recounts Cornell explaining the story to the crowd of listening to a Christian radio station in 1989 and being upset over what he heard, saying he thought they were trying to “scare poor people into giving them (the station) their money. They preyed on the people that could afford it the least and that really bothered me.”

Cornell finished up his set with a soaring version of John Lennon’s hopeful tune ‘Imagine.’ Fan-filmed video of some of the songs can be seen below.

Soundgarden recently revealed the title of their new disc as ‘King Animal,’ and teased a new song called ‘Worse Dreams,’ find out more about them both here.

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